


This One's For the Mighty Sea

by sableu



Category: One Piece
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3697082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sableu/pseuds/sableu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of the day Sabo, age five, decided to leave home and stay in the Grey Terminal for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This One's For the Mighty Sea

_This is all your fault._

That was what his father had said to him.

After days of studying, his tutor had seen it fit to give him a retake of the exam he’d taken- and failed- the week previous.  It made sense, right?  He’d had lots more time to practice, and he’d tried extra hard and done all his work, so there was no reason he wouldn’t pass this time.  As he was sitting at his desk and filling in the answers, he actually felt pretty confident.  There was still some stuff he didn’t understand, but for the most part he thought he’d gotten the hang of it.

“Now, let’s see, Sabo,” his tutor said, taking the exam from him once he finished and adjusting her glasses.  She got out her pen and sat down on her chair to look over it. 

His proud smile dropped as he watched her expression grew darker and darker.  Finally she looked up, and it was like storm clouds had traveled over to her and taken up refuge on her brow.

“Young master…surely you didn’t  _purposefully_ get every single answer incorrect?”

He stared at her, having trouble understanding what she was saying.  “What?  B-but I didn’t-“

His tutor sat up, rubbing her eyes.  “I just don’t know if I can do this anymore…  The family pays well, but if they expect me to be able to teach anything to  _this_ child, I just don’t know…”

She’d left then, half an hour before the session was supposed to be over, without even a single word to him- as if he couldn’t understand what was happening, as if he hadn’t heard and comprehended exactly what she’d just said.  He was too shocked even to cry.

“B-but…I  _tried…”_

It wasn’t easy, trying.  He got distracted every time she tried to teach him about the history of the royal family and the proper way of addressing people of higher status, and the books she gave him were so boring they nearly put him to sleep.  He didn’t even mind reading.  He almost enjoyed it, especially the book about pirates he’d stolen from the library.  It said pirates were all nasty and mean, but they seemed so free.  A lot freer than he was. 

The book reminded him of the time he’d sneaked out and gone to Border Town, then got lost and ended up in the Grey Terminal.  A lot of the people there were scary and mean, but one of them saw him staring out at the ocean, visible now that he was beyond the walls, and pulled him aside.  They’d told him a story of when they’d sailed the seas.  It sounded like magic, but it was real.  Every now and then since then, he’d ran away to the Grey Terminal just to look at the ocean and listen to the inhabitants’ stories.

So whenever his tutor tried to teach him, his mind kept drifting to wild tales of the sea, and to pirates, and to anything other than his empty home that was so big it echoed in places.  Anything other than mathematics that weren’t even applicable to weather or navigation, and seemed so pointless.

But this week had been different.  This week he’d pulled his head out the clouds and made a real effort, and for what?  To fail miserably?  Was there nothing he was good out?  He couldn’t help but think that if she would just test on stuff he cared about, stuff that mattered, he could get full marks.  Instead…

The door to the study burst open.  It was his father, who was breathing heavily, followed closely by his mother, who was looking like a distressed hen.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?” his father thundered, so loudly that he jumped slightly and banged his head against a chest of drawers.

He didn’t have any idea what he’d just done, so he stayed quiet.  Luckily, his father was kind enough to explain.

“Miss Sylvester just quit.  She resigned from her position without so much as a week’s notice, and you know why?  Because you’re incapable of learning a  _single goddamn thing.”_

“Listen to your father, Sabo.  He’s right,” his mother twittered.  “This is terrible!”

Sabo had expected them to be mad, but he didn’t understand why they were this upset.  “I-I’m sorry, you can get a new tutor, I’ll do better next time, I’ll really-“

“Damn right you will,” his father said.  “But it’s too late.  No doubt Miss Sylvester is on her way through town to converse with friends.”

“It’s true, it’s true,” his mother nodded vigorously.  “She always was a gossip, that woman.  I never trusted her.  She’ll tell everyone, everyone will know that our honored family has- we have a-“

_An idiot for a son._ She’d stopped talking, but the words hung in the air, unspoken.

His father picked up the fallen exam from the floor and looked it over, his face still tomato red with anger and just getting redder. 

“This…you can’t even do as simple work as this and…Sabo, listen, your mother and I only want the best for you!  How are you supposed to marry happily into the royal family if you keep bringing shame upon your poor family?!  Didn’t you ever consider our feelings?  No respectable royal would marry someone who doesn’t even know the answer to such  _basic_ questions.”

Tears had formed in his mother’s eyes.  She buried her face in her husband’s shoulder, crying.

“Where did we go wrong, Outlook?” she said woefully.  “What did I do wrong for our child to turn out this way?”

“Quiet, dear,” his father said.  “You’re not speaking with a clear head.  Besides…it isn’t your fault at all.”  He looked up at Sabo, eyes dark.  “Sabo, you understand, don’t you?”

Sabo stared at him, feeling himself start to shake.

“You understand, this isn’t your mother and I’s fault.   _This is all your fault_.”

Sabo hadn’t known what to do then.  He didn’t know what to say, how to act.  He’d started crying, which had only made his father look angrier, so instead he ran.  He ran all the way out of the house and onto the street, where he dried his tears and started walking.

It was a beautiful day.  He pictured how amazing it would be to be out sailing on the sea today, nothing but blue water and blue sky all around him.  The sunlight would aluminate the ship’s sails as they billowed in the breeze.  He closed his eyes and let the thought engulf him, and all of a sudden he felt a lot better.  Maybe he wasn’t good enough for his parents, but that was okay.  Once he was out on the ocean waves it wouldn’t matter whether or not he disappointed them.

“Hey, you!”

He snapped out of his fantasy and looked up.  A red-headed boy a few years his senior and dressed in an elaborate outfit was looking at him, arms crossed.  Sabo blinked.

“I’m a child of the royal family,” the boy said pompously.  “That means I’m related to the king.  Carry me home on your back!”

Sabo stared at him.  His parents’ words echoed in his head:  _If a member of the royal family ever asks you for a favor, you do it, no complaining.  You must always listen to them and respect them, no matter what._ But carry this boy on his back?!  Even his parents had to agree that was ridiculous.  The boy had two legs just the same as Sabo, didn’t he?  Couldn’t he walk? 

The idea was so comical that Sabo didn’t even respond.  He was still too upset about everything that had happened today to care at all what this weird kid wanted from him.  He lowered his head and walked past the red-haired boy, trying not to make a scene.  Right now, he really just wanted to go home again, even if his parents yelled at him.

“Wait, you insolent filth!”

Before he even understood what was happening, the royal boy had run up behind him and shoved him.  He grabbed onto Sabo’s shirt and yelled, “Are you ignoring an order from royalty?!”

“What are you doing?!” Sabo asked, confused.  He elbowed the boy in the stomach so the boy let go, stumbling away.  Then he turned and tried to walk away again.  No point in exacerbating it.  This kid was obviously off his rocker, and Sabo just wanted to get out of there.

“You’re just the son of a noble!  I’ll teach you a lesson!”

Sabo spun around just in time to see the boy running at him, brandishing a knife.  A knife?!  But surely he wouldn’t-

“Don’t!” Sabo yelled, but there was no time to move out of the way. 

The boy ignored him and slashed the knife against his side.  The pain overtook Sabo instantly and he couldn’t do anything other than gasp and collapse to his knees.  They fell together into a heap on the pavement, which he took as an opportunity to kick the boy with both his legs and get him to roll off.  The boy, enraged, came at him again and slashed him across the forehead.  Blood streamed into Sabo’s eyes and he couldn’t see anymore, so he punched and kicked blindly.  One of the punches connected with something hard and he heard a yelp.

He wiped his eyes, hands now smeared red, and looked up.  The royal boy was holding his face where Sabo had just punched it, tears gathering in his eyes.

“Just you wait!” he said.  “I’ll get you for this!  I’ll tell Mother and Father!”

Then he ran off, still holding his bruised cheek.

Sabo stumbled to his feet.  His white dress shirt was now stained from dirt and the blood from the cut on his side.  His forehead was stinging badly.  He didn’t know what to do, or what direction the hospital was from here.

He fell to his knees on the pavement and started to cry.  He didn’t care that his mom and dad were angry with him, he just wanted them to be here now and help him.  He hurt everywhere.

“Mother!  Father!” he sobbed from the pavement, feeling blood start to drip down his face again.

“Oh my gosh- Sabo?!”

He looked up.  His mother had rounded the corner and was staring at him, horrified.  She ran over.

“Mother!” he cried and hugged her, pressing his face against her blouse.

She hugged him back.  “Oh, Sabo, dear, what happened?!”

Just then, someone else rounded the corner.  It was the royal boy again, and this time he was being followed by an older woman wearing a dangerous expression.

“That’s him!” Sabo said.  “Th-that’s the boy who-“

“Are you his mother?” the woman shrieked, marching up to Sabo’s mom.  When she gave the woman a confused look, the woman pointed at Sabo.  “Him.  Are you his mother?”

“Yes, I am.  Who are you?”

“ _I_ am a member of the royal family.  Your son attacked my boy!”

All the color drained out of Sabo’s mother’s face in an instant.  She turned to him.  “S-Sabo…tell me it isn’t true!  You got in a fight with this royal son?!”

“Yes,” Sabo said, standing up.  “And he really hurt me!  But that’s because he pulled a knife on me and-“

Sabo’s face stung with a new, burning pain.  His mother had slapped him across the face and was now glaring at him, positively seething with rage.  She said nothing but ran over to the other mother, apologizing over and over.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!  I hope he wasn’t hurt!  Let’s take him to see a doctor right away!  Please don’t tell anyone else…”

Tears ran down Sabo’s cheeks, mixing with the blood and grime.  He felt confused, and shocked, and sad- but he also felt angry.

_I can’t stay here anymore._

He was so angry, so angry about it all.  Angry at his parents, at his tutor, at the royal boy, at himself.  He watched his mother, so obsessed with people thinking well of her and her family.  His father, so obsessed with the idea of them being wealthy and royal.  They didn’t care about him at all.

He didn’t want to be like them.

If he stayed here…would he become like them?

He couldn’t deal with that.  Pirates didn’t care about dumb things like royalty and status, all they cared about was adventure and freedom.  If he became like Mother and Father, he could never be a pirate.  He could never sail far away from here and see all the wonders of the world that the people in the Grey Terminal had spoken of.

His mother wasn’t even sparing him a glance, she was so distracted with the royal boy.  He could slip away at any moment, he just just…run…and never come back…

So he did.

He ran.

He ran, side and forehead searing badly, his legs nearly giving way underneath him.  He stumbled into Border Town and then, when the gates to the Grey Terminal were opened for a passing trader, he slipped through and hid among the garbage.

Even through all the broken bottles and scrap metal, he could see the ocean from where he was crouched. 

  
It was so  _blue_.


End file.
